A Whisper and a Prayer
by braceface freak
Summary: And so the galaxy became just a little darker.


_Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, not the movies, books or the TV series. I only play and wish. _

_I've been watching Season 4 of The Clone Wars series recently, not my fave I have to say, but am still enjoying it. So I decided to have another go at a Satine/Obi fic (sort-of), this one is post Episode III and pretty angsty.  
_

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Obi...no he was Ben Kenobi now, skirted through the heaving crowds of Mos Eisley.

No-one paid attention to his slight form, his face shrouded in shadow by the rough garments of the locals and not for the first time he was glad; glad that Tatooine was far enough from the centre of the galaxy and so strongly in the hands of the Hutts that even the Empire wanted little to do with it. Apart from the occasional stray trooper, all of whom were swiftly and cleanly dealt with, he had very little trouble in his exile.

He slipped down one of the back alleys, relishing in the shade he found there and made his way slowly to the small hut hewn out of the stone.

Lun Sin was waiting for the usual three knocks and a whistle; it was a primitive system but it worked far better than access cards which were easily lost and even more easily duplicated. The thin Tortuga held out one dull hand, long fingers bending tenderly around the small coin Ben dropped into his sandpaper palm, before he stepped aside and allowed the Jedi through.

He crept silently down the single corridor, turning sharply left through a low door.

The room he entered was sparsely decorated like all rooms on his Godforsaken sand-trap, the main focus point the large screen set into the distant wall. It wasn't much, especially when compared to the grandeur of the library at the old Jedi Temple, but it fulfilled its purpose and didn't attract the attention of the Empire. Pulling off his cloak he stepped further into the room, the door sliding shut with the hiss of escaping air and jammed his finger down on the button, bringing the screen to life with a sudden burst of static.

He called up the usual screens, his eyes scanning through the mass of data for anything new.

The faces of old friends faces popped up; terminated, recently spotted, reward offered spelled out across their features; Ben's chest tightened.

He took a steady breath as red words flashed in front of the familiar lines of Juno Judd's face: so she was dead.  
Another great mind was lost to the galaxy and he hadn't even felt it, the pulsing darkness of Palpatine's regime was making it near-on impossible for him to get any connection with the force at the present.  
It made these regular trips to Sin's even more crucial.

He checked his own profile, its blinking green banner of 'Reward offered. Report directly to Lord Vader of the Galatic Empire," providing him with more joy than a bounty on his head should have.  
At least the Empire seemed to be no closer to finding him, the longer he had before he had to face Ana…Vader…the better.

A bulletin popped up on the side of the screen, Ben commanded the computer to open it, his voice cracking slightly and his eyes began to scan over the text. His fists clenched in the coarse material of his tunic and his breathing became ragged as he made his way down to the bottom of the data-article.

Mandalore had been taken by the Separatists a few years before, the Duchess forced back on the run, a living memory of her youth. Now it appeared they had found her and her allies, if only….

He read on.

_The previous Duchess of Mandalore, Satine Kryze, charged with high treason against the Mandalorian people….._he wanted to stop, wanted this all to be some horrible mistruth generated by the evil Palpatine and his wicked Empire…_was executed this morning. _

Ben felt his stomach twist. He was going to be sick.

It couldn't be true; she couldn't be gone, he hadn't even felt a tremor in the force…nothing.  
He swallowed, was the Empire's darkness so absolute such tragedy had caused not a single flicker in the force?

His eyes prickled, hot and wet. They had survived so much, together and apart, the idea that she could be gone, that he would never see that smile or argue with….something caught in his throat and for a second he couldn't breathe. Gracelessly he dropped to the floor: so many lives had been lost, so many people he cared about and now…now…a sob erupted from his cracked lips, uncontrolled and it astounded him. Obi-wan Kenobi had always been in absolute control of his emotions….he tugged on his beard…but he wasn't Obi-wan anymore, he was Ben and perhaps Ben was less of a Jedi.

The holonet screen flashed, the text disappearing with a crackle and a familiar face replacing the black and white.

Ben could only afford a glance before another sob welled up, followed by another and another.

One word slipped from his lip on a ragged breath, a prayer for the woman he had lost, the woman he had loved and everything else, the whole free galaxy that seemed to vanish with her.

"Satine."

Sin didn't see the strange hooded man or his golden coins again after that day.


End file.
